Don't Be Tricked By These 7 Halloween Myths

Halloween is a mysterious and scary holiday, but then again that's what makes it so fun. The eerie nature of the annual celebration has produced some strange myths and urban legends. Here are 7 you should take with a grain of salt this year:

1. Nasty people hand out tampered candy

Despite the fact that there are almost no cases of this happening, parents still get worked up every year, worrying that their kids will find a razor blade or a poisoned apple in their treat bag. This simply doesn't happen. But don't just take my word for it.

University of Delaware sociology professor Joel Best had investigated reports of "Halloween sadism" tracing all the way back to 1958, and says he's never come across a "substantiated report" of a child being harmed or killed because of tampered treats.

The "Candy Man Killing" has inspired decades of urban legends.PlayBuzz

Although, there was one case of a man killing his own son using poisoned Halloween candy. Ronald Clark O'Bryan - nicknamed The Candy Man - laced his son Timothy's Halloween treats with cyanide in order to collect on his life insurance policy.

2. Halloween is a Satanic holiday

Oddly enough, this dark and spooky holiday has more to do with Christian traditions than Satanic ones. Researchers are still divided on Halloween's origins, but most agree that it began with an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain - which is older than the Devil himself. During the festival, Druids would try to contact the dead.

Over the last few hundred years, Samhain rituals have blended with English folk traditions and modern marketing to make the holiday we know and love. In particular, The Christian holiday of All Hallow's Eve, the day before All Saints Day, probably inspired Halloween more than Satan did.

3. Halloween is the second most expensive holiday

Between candy for trick or treaters and candy for yourself, it all adds up.Saving Advice

Maybe we'd like to think so - after all we spend a lot of money on candy, costumes and decorations - but this old chestnut isn't even close to the truth. The National Retail Federation tracks how much the average American spends on Halloween, and says that the country as a whole spent around $8 billion on the holiday in 2012.

To put that number in perspective, Christmas costs us somewhere in the ballpark of $580 billion. We even spent $12 billion on Mother's Day gifts (poor dads, Father's Day spending peaked at just over $11 billion).

4. Predators go hunting on Halloween

You can't blame parents for worrying about their little ones on Halloween, but there's more fiction than fact in stories of child abusers searching for vulnerable kids while they go door to door. In fact, most states have strict laws that prevent registered sex offenders from handing out candy, or even decorating their homes for the holiday.

In many states, sex offenders are required to put up signs like these on Halloween.NOLA

In reality, the anti-sexual abuse organisation Stop It Now! says that 85% of abusers know the children they abuse. A stunning 47% are actually related to the children. So there's not much need to worry about predators while trick or treating.

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